Eye of the Beholder
by jashersashesonagrave
Summary: EDIT: Kurt expected a lot of things from Sebastian, but being a teen dad? Not on his list. And as Kurt starts to get tangled into Sebastian's life, along with the Baby Mama, Rian, their daughter, Audrey, and their not-at-all-functional family, the list grows even bigger. Kurtbastian. AU after 'Michael.'
1. Chapter 1

**Rating**: PG

**Pairing**: Possible Kurtbastian, Post Sebastian/OC.

**Warning**: Teen Dad!Sebastian

**Summary**: While is out buying supplies for a party, he runs into Sebastian at Wal-Mart. The thing is, Sebastian has a crying little girl in his arms that keeps calling him Daddy…

**A/N**: So. I originally posted this on Crazy4Klaine, and considering that this is the only story I wish to continue, I'm publishing it here, as well. So, yup. Enjoy!

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Kurt sighs, staring down onto the shopping list he's holding, and turns into another aisle.

He doesn't understand why he was the one that was chosen to go shopping for the New Directions' graduation party. Why couldn't it be Emma, with the super OCD, or the whole of the group?

He shakes his head, dropping his hand to grasp the handle of the shopping crate, picking it up off the floor, and drops a couple of packages of paper plates into it when he passes by, and moves out of the aisle to find the last thing on the list.

"No, no, no, Audrey, sweetie, shh." A familiar voice coos, distracting him from his thoughts, and he's suddenly aware of the loud sound of a young girl crying.

"Daddy, I wanna go! I wanna go!" The girl sobs.

The crying is coming from the aisle he's about to enter, to get the last few things on the list, so he peeks around the corner. There he sees a little girl with long, dark red hair, looking about the age of three, crying her little eyes out. A teenaged boy is kneeling in front of her and cradling her face, trying to calm her.

"Audrey, it's too late to go to the playground." The boy says. "We can go tomorrow."

"But I wanna go now!" The girl cries.

The guy is able to gently quiet her as Kurt blinks, stepping into the aisle cautiously. The poor girl is hyperventilating now, trying to take deep breaths, and the guy asks her if she wants to go for ice cream instead. She nods her head, sniffling, and he wipes her wet cheeks with his sleeves before gathering her into his arms and standing up.

Then he turns around, and suddenly Kurt is face-to-face with Sebastian Smythe.

They both freeze, and Kurt blinks owlishly.

Sebastian looks surprised and even a bit worried for a moment before he collects himself and shifts the girl in his arms, looking Kurt over a bit. His jaw clenches defensively and he opens his mouth. "Hey." He greets half-heartedly.

"Hi." Kurt replies warily, eyebrows drawing together.

They stand there in an awkward silence for a moment, but then Sebastian speaks again.

"Do you have something to say that's actually worth my time or are you going to just stare at me like that?" He asks, and Kurt narrows his eyes. He's about to say something snappy in return, but the girl actually beats him to it.

"Daddy, it's not nice to talk to people like that." She reprimands, now fully recovered from her tantrum, hands placed on her hips.

Kurt's not paying attention to that, though, because his stomach drops after 'Daddy.'

Oh. Kurt thinks stupidly.

Sebastian, however, doesn't seem fazed in the slightest. He merely rolls his eyes and smiles fondly at her. "You're right." He turns to Kurt. "My apologies. I would instead like to say that you should probably shut your mouth before something decides to live in there."

Kurt snaps his mouth shut and glares.

So does the girl.

Sebastian raises his hands in defense. "What?" He asks the girl. "I was warning him of something. That's nice."

"I'm telling Mommy." The girl says, kicking her legs as a sign that she wants to be put down.

"Oh, no you're not." Sebastian laughs, setting her down.

The girl then walks right to Kurt and beams up at him. "Hi! I'm Audrey!" She says happily, raising her hand for Kurt to shake.

"Hello, Audrey." Kurt says after a moment, smiling a little. "What manners you have."

"Mommy says I get them from her." Audrey says proudly. "Daddy says that Mommy's a smart a–"

"OK!" Sebastian's hand covers her mouth, and Kurt actually laughs a little. "That's enough of that." He pats her head and takes her hand. "We should probably get going if we want that ice cream." He says, and Audrey lights up at the mention of the frozen treat, nodding frantically.

Kurt nods a bit as they walk by him, and smiles when Audrey turns back, calling. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Kurt!"

Kurt waves back, and as Sebastian turns the corner, he pauses to nod at Kurt, and Kurt raises his hand again to waggle his fingers in a short goodbye.

As Kurt finishes his shopping and leaves, he thinks about the encounter. He had expected a lot of things about Sebastian, but to be a father? Not at all.

He shakes his head as if it would clear his mind, and drives out of the parking lot, all thoughts of Sebastian and the little red-headed girl lost.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-


	2. Chapter 2

It's not until two days later that Kurt sees Sebastian again.

He's getting his morning coffee, without Blaine, as his boyfriend is rehearsing for yet another duet with Rachel, and he spots the blazer-clad teen at a small table in the corner, reading. He looks so relaxed, almost innocent, that Kurt forgets for a moment that this is the same guy who nearly _blinded _his boyfriend and just looks at him.

Before he knows it, he's standing in front of the very same table Sebastian's sitting at, carrying a cup of coffee in one hand and a muffin in the other. Sebastian hasn't seemed to notice his present yet, so he thinks that maybe he can walk past him and act as if he was just walking by–

"Where's Audrey?"

_Shit_.

Sebastian's head snaps up and he looks just as surprised as Kurt feels. For a moment Kurt feels embarrassed for blurting out something like that, for startling him, but then he remembers who he's talking to and how Sebastian didn't seem to be embarrassed at all by the fact that he has a daughter and he feels a bit better.

"Stalking me, Hummel?" He asks, tilting his head and furrowing his brow.

Kurt can't help the snort that escapes him, nor can he help snapping back at him. "I'm not a stalker, and even if I was I wouldn't waste my time stalking _you." _He snips.

Sebastian merely grunts and looks back down at his book, continuing to read.

Kurt just stands there, then, not really sure what to do with himself, and ponders the boy in front of him. He doesn't understand how someone can go from being loving and caring at one moment, and then idiotic and crude in the next. The Sebastian Kurt saw yesterday was different. He was kinder, more affectionate, when Kurt wasn't even aware he was capable of those emotions.

Sebastian looks up. "Are you going to sit down or not, Hummel?"

And, OK, wow. Kurt wasn't expecting that.

He tells himself no. That he should just turn up his nose and walk away, perhaps says some sarcastic as well.

But for some reason he doesn't understand, he sits down.

He hooks his bag over the back of his chair and sets down his coffee and muffin, very much aware of the way Sebastian is watching him, and takes a careful bite out of his muffin. He looks up at Sebastian, but the boy has already turned his attention back to the book he's reading. Kurt pulls his legs up, shifting into a criss-cross-applesauce position to get more comfortable, and repeats his earlier question. "Where _is _Audrey?"

Sebastian sighs, and folds the corner of his page down to mark it, closing the book and setting it down. "She's at home. When I go to school my Dad looks after her." He says, casually taking a sip of his coffee.

"Doesn't your Dad have to work?" Kurt asks, honestly curious.

Sebastian shakes his head. "He retired a while ago. It's not like we're in need of financial support." He freezes after that last sentence, seemingly realizing that he's actually having a civilized conversation with Kurt. He narrows his eyes. "Why do you even want to know?"

Kurt shifts uncomfortably under his gaze and matches his stare. "Is it a crime to be curious?"

"No, but it's rude to be nosy." Sebastian replies.

Kurt rolls his eyes. "Whatever. Do the guys at Dalton know you have a daughter?"

"Why does it matter?" Sebastian looks more defensive than angry, but Kurt can tell he's slowly pissing him off.

"It doesn't." Kurt says, reeling back in the conversation.

"Good." Sebastian glares for a bit longer and then picks up his book, shoving it into his bag and grabbing his coffee. "I'm leaving now." He declares, getting up.

"OK." Kurt says, annoyed. "See you later."

He realizes a moment too late what he's said, when Sebastian pauses, and he's about to take it back when Sebastian speaks.

"Sure. See you around, Hummel." He confirms, walking away.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

When Kurt gets to his locker, Blaine is waiting for him.

"Hi." He greets with a smile, opening his locker when Blaine steps out of the way.

"Hey." Blaine responds. "What took you so long? Usually you're so OCD about what time you get here." He asks.

Kurt thinks about his answer for a moment. What should he say? That _oh, well, I was talking to the guy that almost blinded you because ran into him yesterday at Wal-Mart and guess what? He has a daughter! _

Instead he says. "Long line, and then the barista messed up my order. I think she's new or something."

Blaine nods, accepting the excuse, and if Kurt feels guilty about lying, his conscience doesn't let him know.

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The next day, Kurt's at the mall.

He's looking for a new silver belt to match the new watch that just came in the mail yesterday, when he hears the shrill, familiar voice.

"Momma, I want a pretzel! Can I get one, _pleeease?"_

His head turns and he catches a flash of red hair just outside of the shop, so he sets down the belt he's examining and approaches the exit.

"Sweetheart, it's almost time for dinner, I don't want you to spoil your meal." An older voice says, and when Kurt turns the corner he spots a teenaged girl with wavy dark red hair that matches the hair that belongs to the girl in front of her, crystal blue eyes and pale skin. She's kneeling on the ground, holding the girl's shoulders and looking up apologetically into her eyes.

Next to her is a wheelchair.

"But Mom–"

"Honey, no." The girl says, a bit more firmly, and then stands up as the girl pouts.

She has trouble.

She grips onto the handle of the wheelchair, trying to push herself up, but she must've forgotten to lock it because it rolls away and slips from her grasp, causing her to fall flat on her back.

"Mommy!" The little girl cries.

Kurt's eyes widen and he rushes over, kneeling down next to the fallen girl, whose eyes are now squeezed shut as she presses a hand to her forehead. "Are you alright?" He asks warily, taking her hand with one of his and grasping her shoulder with the other, helping her sit up.

"I'm fine." She replies, taking a deep breath and swallowing, dropping her hand from her forehead to hold herself up. She opens her eyes and smiles gratefully at Kurt. "Thank you." She says.

"Mr. Kurt!" The little girl pipes up suddenly.

Kurt's looks up and his eyes widen.

_That is most definitely Audrey._

"Audrey?" He asks, as if to make sure, but there is no doubt that this is the little girl from the other day. She has the same red hair, the same green eyes, the same splattering of freckles across her nose, and the same missing front tooth.

"Audrey, sweetie, do you know this man?" The girl asks once Kurt has helped her into the wheelchair.

The little girl nods, making her hair swish. "I met him when I was at Wal-Mart with Daddy! They were talking." She says proudly, as if it's an incredible thing to share the information.

The mother looks at Kurt warily. "You know Sebastian?" She asks.

And then Kurt fully realizes it. This is the mother of Sebastian Smythe's daughter.

Kurt nods slowly, trying to keep his eyes from widening as he processes the information, and he replies. "I do, yes."

"Oh." She says. "Look, I'm really sorry if you're someone he's dumped after a one-night stand or something but–"

"_Whoa_." Kurt cuts her off, eyes wide beyond his control at this point. "Um, OK, no. Wow." He shakes his head. "No. I have a boyfriend." He assures her. "I just know Sebastian because…well, he tried to _steal _ my boyfriend." He says.

"Of course he did." She says under her breath, burying her face in one hand, looking embarrassed. "I'm really sorry about that. Bastian really needs to learn how to keep it in his pants." She smiles fondly after that. "I'm Rian, by the way."

"What's gonna fall out of Daddy's pants, Momma?" Audrey questions, head tilted to the side, and Kurt just barely bites back a laugh.

"Nothing, sweetheart." The girl says, picking the girl up and placing her into her lap.

"OK, so I got the Princess plates, but I wasn't able to find the cups so–" And suddenly Sebastian is there, freezing when he sees Kurt next to his daughter and…whatever the mother of the girl is to him. "Kurt." He says.

Kurt smiles just a bit and waves. "Hi."

Sebastian crosses his arms and smirks. "Well, now I'm _sure _you're stalking me."

Kurt rolls his eyes and Rian smacks his in the chest. "Be nice." She warns, glaring.

"I didn't do anything wrong!" Sebastian defends, giving the shopping bag he's holding to Audrey.

"Yes, trust me, he's said much worse." Kurt says, smirking a little when Sebastian withers under Rian's glare.

Sebastian turns a glare of his own on him. "Thanks for that, Hummel."

"My pleasure." Kurt drawls.

"Anyway." Rian says, breaking her glare the smile fondly down at her daughter. "We should probably get going so that we can eat dinner.

"Agreed." Sebastian says, picking up a purple bag that appears to be Rian's and slinging it over his shoulder, gripping the handles of her wheelchair.

Rian looks up at Kurt and waves as Sebastian pushes them away. "It was nice to meet you, Kurt!"

"You, too!" Kurt calls back.

And when Sebastian turns to give Kurt a goodbye wave of his own, albeit short, you couldn't really blame Kurt for being surprised.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day Kurt sees Sebastian at the Lima Bean again and doesn't hesitate to sit down like he did last time. It doesn't feel awkward like it did before, and Sebastian doesn't even flinch when he sits down. He reading the book again, and Kurt stares over at the pages. He takes another sip of coffee before speaking.

"What are you reading?" He asks quietly, trying not to startle him like he did last time.

Sebastian doesn't even look up, only lifts the book so that Kurt can see the flaps wrapped around the front and back covers. On the front is the word 'DIVERGENT' in block letters. He reads the word out loud.

"Mhm." Sebastian hums in response, lowering the book back to his line of sight.

"What's it about?" Kurt questions.

Kurt doesn't quite honestly understand why he keeps trying to make conversation with Sebastian Smythe, of all people, because at this point there should be nothing between them but mutual loathing. Lately Sebastian has become something almost close to tolerable, and Kurt can't quite wrap his head around why.

"Well, it takes place in a futuristic dystopian society." Sebastian answers and Kurt remembers that he had asked him a question. "In which the world is divided into different factions." He turns the page, continuing to read as he explains. "Each faction has different opinions, and when you're sixteen you decide which faction you agree with and want to live in. It's basically about a girl, Beatrice, which faction she chooses, and her training to be a part of that faction." He says. "Rian recommended it. It's actually not too bad."

Kurt nods along, but then catches the mention of Rian and ponders her for a minute, thinking back to the wheelchair. She seemed like she could move her legs just fine, as Kurt spotted her moving her legs into a criss-cross-applesauce position when she was leaving the mall, but she still held on to the chair for support when she got up.

Kurt wants to ask about her, but then he remembers how closed off Sebastian had gotten the last time he became too personal with his questioning, and he keeps his mouth shut. He knows that it's really not any of his business anyway.

Instead he asks, "Where does Rian go to school?"

Sebastian's shoulders stiffen a bit at his question, but they relax just as quick as they had tensed and he sighs an answer. "Dalton's Sister School."

"Crawford County Day." It isn't a question, but a statement.

Sebastian grunts and turns the page again.

The atmosphere is suddenly heavy and awkward as they slip into a silence. Kurt allows himself to be swallowed up in it, because Sebastian's closed-off answers are an obvious red flag that he's not in the mood for speaking.

He clears his throat. "I should probably get going."

"See you later." Sebastian mumbles, raisin his hand in a weak goodbye.

"Yeah, bye." Kurt replies, and pushes his chair in before walking out.

He realizes about halfway to school that Sebastian didn't even look up once, and tells himself that he doesn't care.

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Six hours later, Kurt sighs, staring blankly at the board as Mr. Schue scribbles out the capitals of the countries in the Middle East, tapping his pencil against his notebook subconsciously and leaning his chin into his free hand.

He glances at the clock and internally groans when he sees there's an hour left before class ends. He hasn't had a bad day, per say, but he's bored out of his mind and wants nothing more than to go home and sort through his clothes to make room for the summer collection he's just ordered.

Then he feels his phone vibrate against his against his ankle and he starts, snapping out of his haze to glance down at his boot. He started slipping his phone in there when he started wearing skinny jeans, and now with each pair of boots he owned the right boot was broken in with his phone alongside his foot.

He waited until Mr. Schue started writing a new list of capitals before pulling it out and looking down at the screen._Unknown Number_ it read, but Kurt opened it anyway, curious.

**From: Unknown**

_You're good with planning shit, right? I think Blaine once mentioned you liked to organize events or whatever._

There isn't a doubt in Kurt's mind about who it is.

He looks up to check that Mr. Schue is still turned away before replying.

**To: Smirky Meerkat**

_Why? And how did you get my number?_

The response came a few minutes later.

**From: Smirky Meerkat**

_If I told you I'd have to kill you._

It took all of Kurt's willpower to suppress a snort as he read that, and then he opened the text that quickly followed.

**From: Smirky Meerkat**

_I'm asking because Audrey is turning four in a week and we need to plan her party. We've already bought some of the decorations, but Audrey's picky and changed her mind about the theme last minute._

Kurt blinks a bit after that last message, staring at her age. Just how old was Sebastian when she was born? Fourteen? He shudders at the thought of having a kid at such a young age and sends a message back.

**To: Smirky Meerkat**

_Sounds tragic._

**From: Smirky Meerkat**

_Mm, it really is. Think you could handle helping out?_

**To: Smirky Meerkat**

_Smythe, I planned an entire wedding in under two weeks. I think I can handle a four year old's birthday party._

**From: Smirky Meerkat**

_A wedding, huh? Wow. I'm almost impressed._

Kurt allows himself to scoff before tapping a message back.

**To: Smirky Meerkat**

_Only almost impressed? That's nothing to scoff at, Smythe._

**From: Smirky Meerkat**

_It takes a lot to impress me, sweetheart. Don't be too devastated._

Kurt decides to ignore the nickname and responds.

**To: Smirky Meerkat**

_Whatever. Anything important I should know before I get to planning? Address? Theme? Specified gifts?_

**From: Smirky Meerkat**

_How about you drop by for a bit after school instead? It would be much easier._

Kurt blinks, staring at the text for a few moments, and processes it. Dropping by? Sebastian makes it sound so easy, he thinks, so natural, when it isn't natural at all.

His phone buzzes again.

**From: Smirky Meerkat**

_It's a simple yes or no question, Hummel. I'll send you the details if you don't want to come over._

Kurt runs that through his mind a few more times. Now it's a decision. He can 'drop by' Sebastian's house — which he's already sure is Hell in disguise — or he can politely decline and remain attached to his soul. It would take a mental patient to not choose the latter.

**To: Smirky Meerkat**

_What time should I be there?_

Call him crazy.

**From: Smirky Meerkat**

_Whenever you feel like it. Just make sure it's before eight. That Audrey's bedtime._

**To: Smirky Meerkat**

_Sure thing._

Sebastian gives him the address and Kurt says a quick goodbye before slipping the phone back into his boot and quickly jotting down what he missed. Once that's done he goes back to staring at the clock, willing it to go just a little bit faster for a reason he can't name.


	4. Chapter 4

Kurt waits for thirty minutes before he finally puts the key into the ignition. After that, he waits more. He knows that he agreed to go to Sebastian's, but no matter how many times he rolls that thought over and over again in his head, he can't bring himself to willingly drive there.

So he forces himself. He pushes every single thought of doubt from his brain about Sebastian, and Michael week, and the slushy and oh_ God Blaine falling Blaine screaming Blaine clutching his eye that bastard that bastard I'll kill him I'll—_

With an audible gasp, he slams on the brakes as he suddenly becomes hyperaware of a car horn as he drives closer and closer to a head-on collision, and he swerves frantically, nearly taking out someone's mailbox but just barely missing the SUV in the other lane and oh thank God he came to. No matter how much he loves them, he'd rather not end up like one of the characters out of a John Green book.

It's a two hour drive, but between wasting time talking to his Dad on the phone and listening to his favorite Andrew Lloyd Webber's Best Works CD to calm down, the time goes by much too fast for Kurt's particular taste.

He wants to say that he's not surprised when he pulls up to something that he supposes is Sebastian's house but rather looks like it belonged to Queen Elizabeth, but he really, really couldn't help his slack jaw. He parks slowly, careful not to bump into anything or accidentally drive over any flowerbeds, and then gets out just as gently, eyeing Sebastian's home in awe.

He walks up the three front steps, several feet long and a pristine white marble, and Kurt almost doesn't want to step onto them in fear of someone jumping out and screaming at him about defiling the artwork.

But he does, and now he's in front of the door. He lifts a hand to knock, tugging the strap of his messenger bag more tightly around his shoulder, and raps his knuckles on the door. It's so quiet that for a moment he wonders if he should just force himself to knock loudly, but then a dog is barking and it's as if the whole house has come alive. He waits for a while, at least another three minutes, and he can hear … Sebastian, yelling? No, not yelling. It's not that violent. But he's upset, that's for sure.

"_Just_ …" His voice draws near and Kurt takes a step back. "_I'm fine, Ri. You're in worse shape than I am, you know_—" The door swings open, and there's Sebastian, suddenly as silent and still as a plank of wood, only moving to hang up the cell phone he's holding. "Kurt." He acknowledges, a hint of confusion tainting his voice.

Kurt blinks owlishly, and then rolls his eyes. "Did you honestly forget in two hours flat?" He snips, placing a hand on his hip and pursing his lips. "I've heard of Alzheimer's starting early, but nineteen? Isn't that pushing it a bit?" He asks, one eyebrow raised.

"Eighteen." Sebastian corrects, crossing his arms over his chest and not looking the least bit amused at all. And with the movement, Kurt finally notices what he's wearing. Or what he_ isn't_, really. He's shirtless, for one, and Kurt doesn't want to admit to himself that Sebastian has a nice body, but he really, really does. His tanned skin is stretched over the muscles on his chest and stomach that weren't ridiculously prominent, but still there and still very much noticeable. His hip bones jut out bit, just over the waistband of his boxers, which are sticking out of the oversized sweatpants he's wearing, hanging low on his hips. "And if you're finished checking me out, you can come in any time you want."

A hot blush rises to Kurt's cheeks before he's even fully registered what Sebastian has said, and when he does the embarrassment's ten times worse. He wants to say something in return, to deny his staring, but by that point Sebastian's walking away and Kurt's eyes are dropping to the curve of his ass and okay, _fine_. He might have been checking him out a _little_ _bit_.

He steps inside, and admittedly, the house is actually smaller than it looks from the outside. But it's _far_ from distasteful. Deep mahogany wood line the floors and the immediate pieces of furniture like the coffee tables, the railing on the staircase just to Kurt's right, the picture frames and even some decorative bowls. Expensive-looking rugs line the three hallways from the door, one straight ahead, another directly east to where Kurt's standing, and the other is directly opposite the second, and it also happens to be the one Sebastian has disappeared down.

Kurt hurries down the hallway, and it isn't very long until he reaches what he guesses to be the living room, with three large couches, two loveseats and a worn-out recliner that looks a bit out of place with the new-looking shiny furniture surrounding it, but it also brings warmth and hominess to the room, and Kurt actually smiles a little.

"Mr. Kurt!" A happy, shrill voice squeals, and Kurt blinks in surprise when he looks down to see Audrey clinging to his leg. He debates for a moment as to what he should do with the position – either hug her back, pat her head, or pull away – but she's already gone and moving to Sebastian, who's currently gripping the arm of one of the couches in a death grip.

Kurt watches in deep confusion as he lowers himself slowly onto the couch, his mouth opening in question when he winces as he reaches the soft-looking leather. He winces even more as Audrey climbed up onto his lap, but smiles nonetheless.

"Um." Kurt mumbles, unsure of what to say.

Sebastian glances from Kurt to his daughter quickly, and then smiles again. "Audrey, why don't you go see if Zeus is lonely or not?" And that's all it takes to set the girl off, and she excitedly scampers off, but not before Sebastian's able to sneak a small kiss onto her temple. Kurt blinks again; he still has trouble with that – that Sebastian's actually capable of affection.

"Sit down." Sebastian invites gently, cutting into his thoughts, and so Kurt does, watching suspiciously as Sebastian slowly pushes himself up and moves to the same couch as Kurt, wincing as he did with the first couch.

"Are you okay?" He asks skeptically, eyeing the boy next to him.

Sebastian releases a few soft, dry chuckles under his breath. "Grand." He answers simply, and Kurt can't tell if it's sarcasm or not. "But anyway. Down to what matters. Do you have any toddler-specific party ideas, or should I pitch you some of the things she likes?"

And so that's how it is for the next hour. Talking over plans for the party, laying out color schemes, 'eh'-ing and 'oh'-ing and nodding and grimacing at each suggestion and combination. And somewhere in between looking at different picks and purples and discussing tiaras as opposed to party hats, Kurt starts to wonder where Rian is. He asks as much, but Sebastian just mumbles something about _an appointment_ and continues on to talk about decorations, and Kurt assumes that that meant the topic was to be dropped.

Still, he can't help but wonder what _an appointment_ meant. And not only that, but he's curious about the fact that Sebastian didn't say 'at home,' with a raised eyebrow and just the suggestion of a glare in his dark eyes, like he'd expected. It occurred to Kurt, then, that he has subconsciously assumed that Rian lived with Sebastian.

Another half-hour passes, and then it's really starting to get late. "You should be getting home, Hummel." Sebastian says to remind him of it, and oh, wow, is it seriously almost eight _already_? "Wouldn't want your Daddy to pull a shotgun on me." Another breathy chuckle, and Kurt rolls his eyes.

"Don't jinx it, Smythe." Kurt mumbles, and then an actual laugh erupts out of Sebastian. Kurt smiles, deciding that he likes the sound of it. "I'll leave the books and swatches here for you to look over with Rian." He says, standing up and straightening his skinny jeans.

"Alright." Sebastian replies, and when Kurt turns and he's silent, he half-expects that Sebastian's unashamedly staring at his ass or something equally as vulgar, but when he turns around he saw that Sebastian's _staring_, sure, but not at his backside. Not at anything, really. Just off into space. Kurt tries to follow the line of his gaze, his eyes following the invisible path to several spots on the wall, knick-knacks on the fireplace, the TV which they'd only just recently turned on … but he doesn't see what the interest in any of those things would be. "—later?" He turns, and Sebastian's looking at him again.

"Huh?" He asks dumbly.

"I'll see you later." It isn't a question that time.

"Yeah." Kurt nods. "Okay." And then he leaves.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

'Later' turned out to be a lot later than expected.

It's three days later, and Kurt's actually surprised that it has taken so long. He'd gone to the Lima Bean each day at the usual time, and then he'd waited longer than usual, until he knew that if he didn't leave for school _right that freaking minute_ his Chemistry teacher would skin him alive.

But sure enough, there Sebastian is, walking through the front door like everything's normal. Kurt watches him as he goes to the counter and orders his coffee, and then eyes him even harder, willing Sebastian to feel his gaze and turn, to see Kurt.

He doesn't look up, doesn't look at Kurt, but somehow he still finds his way to Kurt's table and sits. Only then does he look up. "Kurt." He nods, taking a sip of coffee.

"Where have you been?" He asks in return, quietly and sternly, as if he's a worried housewife whose husband didn't come home until one when he said he'd be back at eight.

Then, as if he can read Kurt's mind: "Don't worry, wifey, I wasn't cheating on you." He says, one eyebrow raised.

Kurt rolls his eyes. "You know what I mean. Why haven't you been here for the past two days?"

"Were you counting? Oh, Kurt, I didn't know you _cared_ so much."

Annoyed, Kurt sets his jaw and moves to get up. "Fine, if you're going to be an ass about it—"

"Hey, whoa, calm yourself, sweetheart." Sebastian stops him, catching his wrist. "Don't be so goddamn sensitive, Jesus, I'm just messing around with you." Kurt doesn't sit, so Sebastian sighs and continues. "I just wasn't feeling well the last couple of days. Rian practically locked me in the house because I was in such horrible shape and she didn't want me leaving."

"Did you? At all?"

"No. I repeat: locked in."

"I figured you were the climbing-through-windows type."

"I am. Usually. But I wasn't in good shape for it."

"Is that why you were in so much pain the other night?"

Sebastian pauses. "What?"

"I'm not blind, I noticed you wincing." Kurt told him.

"Right. Yes. That was it."

"Why didn't you just say that in the first place?"

"What would be the fun of coming clean when I can mess you around for a little while?" Sebastian retorted, shrugging and dropping his hand from Kurt's wrist. The skin tingles, but Kurt ignores it. "You're just sucking the fun _right_ out of this, sweetheart."

"Don't call me that." Kurt rolls his eyes and sits back down again, finally.

"Noted." Sebastian murmurs. "So, what have I missed these past couple of days?" He asks, leaning back in his chair. "How's the pretty boyfriend?"

"How's the pretty daughter?" He shoots back, not missing a beat.

Sebastian grins. "I'm beginning to like you, Hummel."

Kurt contemplates his answer. "And I'm beginning to fear that that's mutual." He eventually says, and takes a leisurely sip of coffee as they slip into a comfortable silence.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **For those of you who think that Sebastian's being sore was from sex … let me love you. You're perfect. Unfortunately, Sebastian wasn't as lucky for that to be the case here. /watch?v=bW7Op86ox9g.

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_Louie's at ten on Friday night. Leave behind the fake ID I got you. It sucks. I'll bring you a new one. ~ S_

Kurt stares down at the text. It takes him a few minutes to realize that _Louie's_ means Louie's Nite Club in northern Lima. His thumbs hover over the screen of his phone as he contemplates his answer. A _nightclub?_ Really? Blaine's little endeavor at Scandals had been enough to convince Kurt to never get drunk – or get Blaine drunk, for that matter – again, but … this is Sebastian. Cool, cocky, laid back, probably-done-this-a-hundred-times Sebastian. It's different. And if Blaine didn't come along …

Kurt shakes his head to himself, causing Rachel to glance over at him curiously, which he waves off with a reassuring smile. _Headache_, he mouths, faking a wince, and she spares him a sympathetic look before turning back to Mr. Schue. Kurt exhales slowly.

He could always invite Blaine, couldn't he? … Except no, he couldn't. Not with what happened – Blaine would get too suspicious. And definitely not with Sebastian there, because knowing Blaine, even if the whole nearly-blinded thing was cleared up now, he'd walk out immediately and drag Kurt right out with him.

And then there's the issue of his father, of course. Burt lets Kurt stay out late at times, but going out at _ten?_ That's late enough as is. His curfew is always midnight, at the latest. In his head, he hears a scoff that sounds suspiciously like Sebastian, but he pushes it away.

He taps his phone against his chin, weighing his options. He'll have to pass; he knows he has to. It's strange, he thinks, how much that single thought disappoints him. Honestly? He _wants _to go out. Perhaps not with Sebastian, and perhaps not at a bar, but … okay, definitely at a bar. But he's a teenager. A small craving for rebellion isn't anything to frown at, right? This is healthy. It has to be.

But, God … he can't go alone. He isn't going to do that. He's not an idiot, he knows how dangerous it is, and he sure as hell can't go with anyone else.

His phone vibrates in his hand.

_Really? Again? I'll repeat myself from last time, Kurt; it's a simple yes or no question. ~ S_

His mouth twists up into a thoughtful purse of his lips. He knows that it would be so simple to either type yes or no and change his mind later on if need be, but goddamn it, he isn't going to torture himself like that. He needs to make a decision now.

_No_ is the easiest option, obviously, but it definitely isn't the easiest thing to type. And _yes_ is practically the other way around. He rubs small circles into his temple, and swallows.

_Don't think so. Family dinners are on Fridays. ~ KEH_

He realizes his mistake a second too late.

_Do these dinners usually run until after ten o'clock? ~ S_

Kurt starts to tap out an apology, but then his phone vibrates again before he can finish, and another text alert distracts him.

_You don't have to make up excuses. I'm a big boy; I can handle a no every now and then. And it's not like I'm devastated you're not coming. I just figured you'd want to air out your panties for a little while – maybe even pull that stick out of your ass, just an inch or two. ~S_

When Mercedes, Finn and Mike all lean forward to look at him as Kurt snorts, he pretends like it hadn't happened.

_As dreadfully sorry as I am to crush that plan of yours, my father will know I'm gone in a heartbeat once it's past curfew, and I can't exactly bring anyone along. ~ KEH_

_They still hate me that much, huh? ~ S_

Kurt frowns.

_I wouldn't say hate. More like strongly dislike. ~ KEH_

It sounds lame, even to him.

_Right. Well, whatever. I'm meeting up with some people, anyway. Probably wouldn't be your crowd. ~ S_

_Is Rian going to be there? ~ KEH_ He types, because he's curious.

_Yeah, that's the plan. Me, her, my sister, my sister's boyfriend, my sister's boyfriend's sister, and two good friends of mine. ~ S_

_Wow. And they say three's a crowd. ~ KEH_

_Yeah, well, it is Audrey's birthday next Thursday. They're all staying for a while, but we can only fit so many nights out together. You know how it is. ~ S_

No, he doesn't. But he plays along anyway.

_Right, yeah. Totally. He taps out, thinking, and then, I didn't know you had a sister. ~KEH_

_Her name's Francesca, but you'll call her Frankie if you know what's good for you. Her boyfriend's the exception, apparently. The smooth bastard gets to call her Ces. ~ S_

_Sebastian and Francesca. Your parents are quite the namers. And you don't sound too fond of Frankie's (?) boyfriend. ~ K_

_They have quite the personalities to match it, too. And nah, Ash's great. My best friend, practically. He's just frustrating sometimes. But he could sweet-talk his way out of murder, so that's never really a problem. ~ S_

_Do they all live in Paris? ~ K_

_My parents do. Ash does. My two friends, no, and Frank's moving in with me, Rian and the Princess. ~ S_

_I thought you said your dad looked after Audrey during the day? ~ K_

For the next thirty minutes, Kurt listens to Mr. Schue drone on about how there _must_ be a Journey song they haven't done yet while Santana groans in Spanish and Rachel starts blabbering about Spring Awakening, because Sebastian doesn't text him back.

He wonders if he struck a nerve of some kind, and scrolls back through his texts. He doesn't spot anything that looks too awful, and his last text was merely a question. He figured it was a type or something Sebastian had made, but his absence started to convince him otherwise.

The bell rings, and the glee clubbers start filing out, Mr. Schue calling after them about rehearsing the assignment – and oh, crap, he'd have to text Mercedes and ask what it was. Lord knows Rachel wouldn't tell him; more likely she'd scold him for not paying attention.

He's halfway home when his cell phone finally buzzes. Now, Kurt's a firm believer that one should _not_ text while driving – his mother had died in a car crash, after all. But this time he makes an exception, because he can see SMIRKY MEERKAT written across the lit-up screen on his phone, and it's too tempting to resist.

He pulls over and opens it.

_Yeah. I lied. Sorry. ~ S_

Kurt's eyebrow draw together. _Why would you lie? ~ K_

"_Hey, Kurt, wanna come plan my daughter's birthday party? OH, by the way, Rian won't be home and we have absolutely no parental supervision. But don't worry, I promise I won't try anything!" ~ S_

Kurt laughs. _Point taken. ~ K_

_Good. ~ S_

_So that's a definite no for Friday, then? ~ S_

_A completely definite no. ~ K_

_Shame. Well, I tried. ~ S_

_You did. ~ K_

_See you at the party, then. ~ S_

_Yeah, sure. ~ K_

Sebastian doesn't text back, so Kurt drives home.

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Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday's morning, noon, and afternoon couldn't have gone by any slower. Which is odd, because the days never go by that slow unless Kurt's waiting for something exciting to happen – for instance, that week he got tickets to see Lady Gaga, or the week of Nationals the year before. It's anticipation; something Kurt's all too familiar with.

He figures maybe it's because it's the end of the week, but Kurt's never been one of those students who despises school so much that they count down the minutes until the weekend, so he doesn't understand at all.

He brushes it off and ignores it until he remembers that it's the night Sebastian's supposed to go out with his friends.

Kurt sighs, and then shakes the – jealousy? Desire? – feeling off. He would have been imposing anyway. It was Sebastian's family and sure, Kurt liked Rian and Sebastian had recently begun to seem human, for once, but that was a step too far, even for Kurt.

… It still surprises him with how much he really wants to go.

But he doesn't. Instead, he works his way through his nightly skin-care regimen, adding some scented lotion to help him fall asleep faster, and lies down in the pitch black of his room at 9:30. He stares at his clock until it's 10:02 before he actually falls asleep.

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He wakes up just as soon as he fell asleep, with his phone ringing in his ear. He jumps, rubs at his eyes, and blinks frantically through the dark at the clock – 1 am. His phone is still ringing, and right now it's like nails on a chalkboard to him, so he grabs it without looking to see who it is, hits answer, and hisses, "_What_?" into it.

"Kurt? Kurt." It's Sebastian, and he slurs Kurt's name just a little around the edges, dragging out the 'u' into two syllables when he repeats the name by mistake.

"Sebastian? It's 1 in the morning, why are you calling me?" He runs a hand through his hair, annoyed beyond belief. God, he really isn't in the mood for a prank call right now.

"I know what time it is." Sebastian mumbles, and that's all he says.

"Sebastian. Why. Did you call me?" He punctuates the 'why,' and waits impatiently.

"Sebastian." Sebastian repeated. "Suh. Suh-baz-chin." Kurt groans. "I want— need a favor." He corrects, pulling himself back into it, and that gets Kurt's attention for a moment.

"In the middle of the night?"

"I'm a little drunk."

"I noticed."

"I can't drive. I'm alone."

Kurt pauses. "I thought you said you were with everyone."

"I was." Sebastian sighs, sounding seemingly sober aside from a tiny stutter. "Not anymore."

"So what do you want me to do?"

"… I need a ride." Sebastian sounds like he's wincing. "I'm sorry. I'll pay for the gas, or explain to your Dad or whatever. I just … need to get out of here now."

"Okay." Kurt says, without hesitation, throwing his blankets off. "Where are you?"

"A few miles away from the club, I think." Sebastian says.

Kurt nods, even though he knows Sebastian can't see it. "Okay. I'll be right there. I'll drive up and down until I see you."

"Thank you, Kurt."

"Just stay on the line with me until I get there." He slips on his shoes.

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Sebastian isn't alone when Kurt gets there.

He's annoyed, at first, thinking that Sebastian's tricked him into giving not only him but some guy he picked up a ride, too, and he fully intends on calling Rian or something to get her to come here and kick their asses, instead, but then he sees the look on Sebastian's face.

It's a strange mix of anger and cockiness, his mouth twisted into a sort of half-scowl/half-smirk, and then the guy throws back a fist and punches, and before Kurt can even gasp Sebastian's slamming back against the brick wall, his nose bleeding.

Kurt pulls over and gets out of the car, rushing towards them and pulling out his cell phone. "Hey!" He calls, angrily, and the guy, who's now holding Sebastian against the wall in a way that looks extremely menacing (even though Sebastian, the crazy bastard, isn't so much as wincing), turns to look over his shoulder.

Sebastian lunges at the distraction and uses the opportunity to grab the guy's arm and twist it, pushing it up and against his back, making the guy cry out and drop to his knees. Sebastian growls something into his ear and then shoves him onto the ground, spits on him, and runs.

"Run run run run run." Kurt just barely hears when Sebastian rushes past him, grabbing his arm and nearly throwing him down in the process of trying to get him to move.

So Kurt does. He runs back to the car and hurries into the driver's side, switching into drive and flooring it.

And once they're driving, Sebastian sighs, slumping against the car door. "Sorry about that." He almost groans, running a hand over his face, and then he sees the blood on his hand. "Shit." He mutters, and Kurt reaches down in between the seats.

"Here." Kurt says after a minute, and hands him a box of tissues. "Do not, and I repeat _do not_ bleed on my baby."

Sebastian opens his mouth to retort, an for a second Kurt wonders if Sebastian's going to make some God-awful joke about Audrey's delivery or something, but then he snaps it shut and goes silent. "Thanks." He eventually mutters.

Kurt hums a little. "Who was that guy?" He asks, not able to help himself. "An old flame?" He guesses, raising an eyebrow.

"Not mine." Sebastian replies, eyes squeezed shut. "Mack's." He says it so casually, as if it explains everything.

"Who's Mack?"

"Mackenzie. Of the trouble twins."

"Trouble twins?"

"You ask a lot of questions." Sebastian points out.

"You keep a lot of secrets." Kurt retorts.

Sebastian shrugs. "Fair enough. But I don't owe you an explanation. It's my and my family's business, not yours."

"Who do you even consider to be your family, Sebastian?"

Sebastian is silent, and Kurt regrets the words immediately.

"The labyrinth." Sebastian murmurs all of a sudden, and Kurt sighs, not even bothering to ask. "How do you get out of the labyrinth of suffering?"

Kurt gives him a long look.

"Alaska hates it when I say that." He actually chuckled a little. "Hey." He says, blinking out the window. "Uh, where are we—"

"My house." Kurt answers, and then rolls his eyes at the look of surprise on Sebastian's face. "What? I couldn't very well drive you home. That's two hours there and two hours back, and I'm tired enough."

"I'd bet everything I own that your father won't like that." He gets out regardless of his own statement, shutting the door less than subtly and stumbling a little.

Kurt freezes. Shit. He hadn't thought about his father. "I, uh ..." He searches his brain for a solution, chewing on his bottom lip worriedly.

A warm, damp hand clamps on his shoulder, and then it's gone as Sebastian passes by him. Whether it was to keep himself upright or to give Kurt some sort of reassurance, Kurt isn't sure.

"I'll be out of here before he wakes up." Sebastian says. "Kay? Just wake me up and throw my ass out." He shrugs, and Kurt waits for a smirk or a laugh, and when it doesn't come Kurt realizes he isn't joking. He frowns.

"Okay." He agrees, and then leads them around to his window. "Never in my life have I been more grateful for a spare room in the basement." Kurt mumbles to himself, and pries the window open as quietly as possible, first helping Sebastian in and then slipping through himself, praying that he and Sebastian will get to his room without delay.

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Kurt wakes up to an empty bed.

His first thought is 'Ioh, God, Dad got a hold of him,'/I but then he tells himself that if he did, he probably wouldn't have gotten to sleep afterwards, with the freaking out his Dad would be doing.

So, he pushes himself up and looks in the bathroom, half-suspecting Sebastian to be half-naked or in the middle of a shower Kurt didn't hear. Then he looks out the window, but quickly realizes how stupid that is and turns around.

"Hey, kiddo."

Kurt jumps a foot in the air, releasing a squeak. "Dad! You scared me!" He cried, holding a hand to his chest.

"Sorry, sorry." Burt lifts his hands up in surrender. "I just wanted to see if you were alive in here. It's pretty late for you to sleep." He nods at the clock, and Kurt blinks when he sees that the clock says 12:30.

Crap. He must have been really tired. He tries to think back to the night before, to remember what time it was when they fell asleep, but he can't remember looking at the clock. All he remembers is sneaking Sebastian upstairs into his room, shutting and locking the door, and then falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, next to Sebastian.

"Uh." He blinks. "Right. Uh, nightmares." He generates the excuse quickly. "They kept me up all night." He lies easily.

Burt's face softens. "You okay, kiddo?" He asks.

Kurt nods. "Yeah, Dad, fine. Probably just from that horror movie I saw with Rachel last week." They'd actually gone shopping, but what his Dad didn't know wouldn't kill him.

"If you're sure."

"I am." Kurt answers quickly. Too quickly.

But licks up on it and raises an eyebrow. His eyes scan Kurt's room, and Kurt tenses when his eyes rake over the bed, praying to God that he wouldn't notice a second indent from Sebastian there.

Apparently he doesn't, because he nods. "Alright." He says. "Come downstairs and eat something, would you?" And then he's gone, disappearing down the hall.

"That was close."

Kurt jumps a second time, his heart pounding as Sebastian steps out of his closet, wearing a pair of sunglasses that aren't Kurt's, but he hasn't noticed Sebastian wearing the night before. He wonders what else he missed.

"Sebastian!" He stage-whispers, and then shuts his door.

"Kurt!" Sebastian mimics, and even through the sunglasses Kurt can tell he's rolling his eyes.

"What are you— how— wha—"

"_Wha—uh—I—you._" Sebastian mimics him a second time, changing up his voice and flopping down in the bed, his sunglasses inadvertently slipping off so that Kurt can actually see him rolling his eyes this time. "Slow down, sweetheart, you sound like a SPED."

"Don't be rude." Kurt scolds, pulling himself together. He shakes his head. "How did you ... know to get in there? My dad—"

"Has really fucking heavy steps that woke me up when he was halfway up the stairs." Sebastian lowers the sunglasses a bit to shoot an unimpressed stare over them at Kurt, and then winces, and Kurt realizes the purpose of them — Sebastian probably had a killer hangover right now.

"Oh." Kurt says dumbly.

"Yeah, oh." Sebastian huffs a short laugh. "You're a really fucking heavy sleeper, Hummel."

Kurt sighs, annoyed. "Well, I'm just glad that you're not."

"You're a cuddler, too, apparently." Sebastian smirks widely, and Kurt stiffens. "Clung to me the second you passed out."

"I did not." Kurt argues, even though he knows he's a cuddler and damn it, it's probably true.

Sebastian raises an eyebrow. "Pretty sure you did." He says. "But fine, suit yourself." He grabs an unopened bottle of water from Kurt's nightstand, taking a swig.

"Is someone coming to get you?" Kurt asks, annoyed and desperate to change the subject.

Sebastian nods. "I texted Tweedle-Dee." He said. "She's on her way. She said she'll park down the street."

Kurt briefly wonders who Tweedle-Dee is, and then decides he doesn't want to know. "So you can go? You'll be alright?"

"Alright might be pushing it." He admits with a sigh, running a hand through his sleep-mussed hair. "When Rian and Franks see this," he gestured to his nose, and Kurt notices for the first time how badly bruised it is, "I'm dead."

"You're lucky you weren't dead last night." Kurt crosses his arms.

Sebastian grins, flashing that damn canine again. "I could have taken care of myself just fine without you, sweetheart, don't you worry." He shakes his head. "I've dealt with much worse. And trust me, a death by Rian and Francesca is way worse than any other."

A car horn is faintly heard through the glass of Kurt's window, down the road, and Sebastian grabs his jacket. "That's my queue." He sighs, shrugging it on and stepping into his shoes.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Kurt asks, and no, he doesn't know why. Shut up.

Sebastian looks up, face stoic. "Always am." He says solemnly, opening Kurt's window, and Kurt knows that somewhere in there is some sort of double meaning, but for right now, he's tired, and hungry, so he watches Sebastian climb down, makes sure he gets to the street safely and unspotted, and then heads downstairs for breakfast.

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On Monday, Kurt goes to the Lima Bean with Blaine.

"I swear, that girl will talk my ear off one of these days." Blaine was laughing about Rachel, and Kurt was grinning widely. Rachel had convinced Blaine to sing some sort of Valentine's Day song with her for some festival, and Kurt had barely gotten to see him with how much time they'd spent rehearsing.

"I'm glad you two are having fun with it, at least." He said, smiling and taking a sip of coffee.

Blaine nods for a few moments, and then his smile start to fade. He sighs. "I'm sorry I haven't been paying much attention to ... us, lately." He apologizes, and goes to say more, but Kurt stops him.

"Say no more." Kurt grabs his hand. "It's okay. I know how much you love performing, and you and Rachel sound ... great, together." He manages a small smile. "Just be excited! Don't worry about me. Okay?" He squeezes Blaine's hand.

Blaine smiles in appreciation. "Okay." He says, and draws his hand back.

Kurt hides the falter in his smile.

It isn't anything new to the couple, having to keep the PDA down to a level that's almost unfair, but Kurt really doesn't see the harm in hand-holding or hugging, but still, Blaine avoids the contact. He knows he shouldn't let it bother him, but he couldn't help it. The more Blaine does it, the less it seems to be about the PDA, and the more it seems to be about ... them.

He sighs. Thankfully, Blaine doesn't notice.

"Idiot, idiot, _idiot_."

"Oh, my God, _stop hitting me_." A familiar voice complains, and Kurt lifts his head to see Sebastian.

Sebastian, with an incredibly annoyed look on his face, and a shorter, pissed-off looking girl right on his heels. She's pretty, Kurt noted, with long, glossy-looking black hair and skin around the same tone as Sebastian's. Her eyes are a dark brown, large and dramatic, and her lips are full and twisted into an annoyed frown that admittedly looks out of place on the sweet-looking girl.

"I will not stop hitting you." The girl informs Sebastian. "In fact, I'll keep hitting you nonstop until you admit how much of a doofus you are." She hits Sebastian's arm again, but it doesn't look hard at all. Kurt isn't surprised; she looks a bit too fragile to really hurt someone intentionally.

"I'm not, you bitch." But he was laughing. "C'mere, can't we just hug this out like we did when we were kids?" He asks, tilting his head innocently and holding an arm out.

The girl groans, but rushes into his arms without hesitance. "You're lucky I like hugs so much."

Sebastian chuckles against her hair, sliding a hand up and down her back. "I'm alright, Little Franks. You know that."

_Franks_. It clicks, and Kurt puts the pieces together; this is Francesca.

"I know." She pulls away then. "You're buying me coffee for this." She tells him, pointing to the counter

Sebastian rolls his eyes. "You know, if you hadn't spent all weekend in your room with your precious boyfriend, we could have dealt with this a while ago."

"You're just grumpy because I'm hogging Ash." She laughs cutely.

"Asher's my man." Sebastian says. "But no, I'm more upset that he's hogging you."

"We can leave if you want." Kurt's head snaps to the side, and he realizes that he's completely forgotten that Blaine was there.

"Huh?" He asks, blinked.

"I said that we could leave, if you don't want to be around ..." His eyes flicker to Sebastian, who's ordering now. "Him."

Kurt contemplates his answer for a moment. "I'm okay." He decided on. "I want to stay here a while longer. And plus, it's not like we can stay away from him forever. We might as well embrace it ... right?" He doesn't know why asking the question makes him feel nervous.

Blaine stares for a second before nodding slowly. "I guess." He says. Sighs. "I'm gonna ... go, though." He says with hesitance. "If that's ... if it doesn't bother you."

It doesn't. Kurt says as much, and Blaine smiles his thanks before turning and leaving, promising a text later on.

He looks back up, and Sebastian's headed right for him.

"Hey." He greets.

"Kurt." Sebastian nods, and then Francesca's there, looking shy. "Franks, this is Kurt."

"Nice to meet you." Francesca smiles sweetly.

"You, too, Francesca."

Sebastian winces, and Francesca's smile falls.

"Um ... it's Frankie, actually." She corrected. "Just Frankie." Her smile returns, but it looks more forced this time.

"Right." Kurt feels embarrassed, and resists the urge to face palm. "Sorry, Frankie."

"Don't be." She assures him, still smiling, and then looks to Sebastian. "So, I hear your my brother's new babysitter." She's talking to Kurt, but her gaze is still on Sebastian, who flips her off. She sticks her tongue out.

Kurt laughs. Sebastian sends him a helpless look.

"She's _moving in_, Kurt." He stressed. "How am I supposed to deal with this type of abuse every single day?"

"By accepting the fact that you're a massive bag of dicks that deserves it?" Another voice sounds, and Kurt looks over Sebastian's shoulder to spot a tall boy, with dark brown hair and tanned skin, thin and broad.

Sebastian rolls his eyes. "Hey, Ash." He shakes his head, although his smile is wide and his voice is fond.

"Sebastian." He laughs. "Hello, beautiful." He leans down and presses a kiss to Frankie's cheek, making her blush ten shades of red.

"Hi, baby." She responds with a grin, and Sebastian jumps.

_"Baby?" _He wrinkled his nose. "You let her call you _baby_ now?"

Asher shrugs, and then turns to Kurt. "I don't believe we've met." He says, and holds his hand out. "Kurt, yeah?" Kurt nods and shakes his hand, and his face splits into a wide grin. "Asher Dax Jakson." He introduces. "Bonjour." He winks playfully.

"Charming bastard." Sebastian shakes his head, watching him with an incredulous grin.

Ash laughs. "Don't worry, Bas. I'm not out for your boy." He draws two lines over his chest, signaling that he's crossing his heart, and drags a chair to the table behind Frankie, grabbing her hand.

Kurt smiles, deciding he likes this family.

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**A/N: **So me and the Frankie to my Asher like Jak and Daxter. Sue us. :|


	6. Chapter 6

"_It's a mad house over here_."

"I'd bet." Kurt smiles into the phone. "What i—"

"_Hey, hey!"_ Sebastian's suddenly calling. "_Big brother in the room! Not cool!"_

"_Ces and I were here first; we're just trying to watch a movie." _Kurt can hear Asher protest in the background, and pictures the wide smile on his face. In the background, he can hear Frankie laughing.

"_No, you're 'just trying' to make babies in front of me." _

Kurt laughs at that, and Sebastian scoffs. A door closes, and then Sebastian's voice is back.

"_Sorry about that. Ash keeps trying to defile my sister_." He can practically hear Sebastian rolling his eyes. "_You were saying?"_

"Nothing important. I was going to ask what was going on over there, but I think you just answered my question."

"_Ah."_

"Mhm." Kurt sips his coffee – it was eight o'clock, and he should have been at school, but Sebastian had talked him into skipping to come help set up for the party while Audrey was still at school. "When should I get there to help?"

"_As soon as possible_." Sebastian groans into the phone. "_I mean it. I'm literally begging you. I can't bear to be around these two by myself anymore. They're so sappy I want to throw up_."

"Says the guy that's never been in love." Kurt rolls his eyes.

"_That's not true_." Sebastian replies, his voice suddenly much more serious. "_Rian. Hello_."

"Oh." Kurt says stupidly, blinking. Well, if that didn't make him feel like an idiot, he didn't know what would. He hadn't even considered that Sebastian could have been in love with Rian, not really, but now that he thinks about it, he doesn't know why. Sebastian never hesitates to make the fact that he's into guys very, very clear, but was it possible that he was into girls, too?

Kurt thinks back, and he can't recall a time where Sebastian ever actually said that he was completely gay.

He doesn't know why that scares him.

"_Hey_." Sebastian whistles. "_Yo, earth to Kurt_."

"Hu—s-sorry." Kurt shakes his head. "Sorry. What was I saying?"

"'_Oh_.'" Sebastian repeats him, chuckling.

"Oh. Oh, right. 'Oh.'" Kurt swallows. "I didn't … you know, know that."

"_Yeah, well_." Sebastian mumbles. "_Rian's something special. She's been my best friend my whole life, and ... well, like in every chick flick I've ever seen, I was the best friend that fell in love with her_." He laughs. "_There was my destiny. I was pretty much screwed from the start._"

"That's kind of _adorable_, though." Kurt stresses the word, grinning.

"_Oh, God. Not you, too_." Sebastian groans. "_Could you just try and be a guy, for like, two seconds, here? I'm talking about girls for once in my life and you call it __**adorable**__. You're such a girl."_

For once in my life. The words swirl around in Kurt's head, but it only adds onto his confusion. Why did Sebastian keep throwing out all these mixed signals about his sexuality? Or was it just Kurt, making things up in his head?

"At least I look relatively human, as opposed to your scarily successful impersonation of Timon from the Lion King."

"_You wound me, sweetheart_." Sebastian chuckles. "_But seriously. You should get over here. Now."_

"Eager to decorate?" Kurt steps into his shoes.

"_Eager to get a distraction from my asshole of a best friend that refuses to stop sucking on my baby sister's neck_."

Kurt tsks for a moment, and then nods to himself. "I'll be there soon." He says, and then hangs up and walks out the door.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

With every passing moment after Kurt steps into Sebastian's house that day, he begins to further appreciate he words '_mad house_.'

Three girls of whom Kurt doesn't recognize are here now, two of which are completely identical (the memory of Sebastian saying '_of the trouble twins'_ rings through his head) and the third is completely different. She can't be more than sixteen, Kurt can tell, but she looks much older than that. As Asher walks into the halls right by her and jabs her in the side momentarily before running off (leaving her yelling at him about what an asshole he was), Kurt makes the connection and remembers Sebastian mentioning Asher's sister.

As the girl screams after her brother, the twins are laughing loudly at a joke Kurt didn't catch, talking over each other loudly and their mouths running a mile a minute. That isn't all – Kurt can hear crashing in the distance, loud enough to make him jump, and then he hears Sebastian's cursing and Rian's laughter ringing through the halls.

"Uh." He hears himself say, and then three heads whip around to look at him.

"Kurt!" He hears Asher call, and he almost lets out a sigh of relief when the boy pokes his head around a doorway, allowing Kurt to look somewhere else than the three girls staring at him.

"Hi, Ash." He greets, smiling when Ash comes towards him.

The boy slings an arm around him, immediately driving him away and towards the source of the crashing. "We've been waiting for you, man. You missed half the fun."

"Half the—" Kurt starts to question him, but then Ash gives him a push and he's stumbling into the living room, where he almost blushes at what he sees.

Sebastian and Rian look up from where they're tangled on the couch – Sebastian's on his back with Rian on top of him, their legs intertwined, and they're both covered in … streamers?

Kurt blinks, and a sudden discomfort engulf him, making him feel like he's intruding on something private. "Oh." He says on instinct. "Sorry, I can go, I didn't mean—"

"No, it's fine." Rian laughs, pushing herself off of him. "We were just attempting to decorate."

"'Attempting' being the operative word." Sebastian says, his eyes back to Rian. He's absolutely _beaming_ up at her, and again, Kurt shifts. _God_, he thinks, _why does that sting?_

"Mhm." Rian rolls her eyes and grabs his hand, pulling him up. She pulls the streamers off of him, unwrapping them from around his shoulders and waist and forehead. "There." She says when she's done, laughing.

Sebastian's still grinning wide when he turns to Kurt, shoving his hands into his pockets. "You missed the other arrivals."

"The downside of living two hours away." Kurt rubs at his arm, laughing a little.

"Right." Sebastian flashes the (damn) canine. "Come on, let's get started. We managed to get the place cleaned up," he keeps talking as he gathers the streamers strewn about the floor, and Kurt helps to pick up some along his feet, "and I said that we should wait for the only true decorator we know to come along," he throws a wink at Kurt, "but, of course, Rian was insistent." He sighs, gathering the streamers in one arm. "Gotta love her, though."

"Yeah. Gotta." Kurt repeats, and hands off the last of the streamers to Sebastian, they hands just barely grazing as Sebastian takes them from her.

For a moment, they just stand there. For once there isn't tension, or loathing, or laughter, or anything. Nothing to distract them, or to occupy their thoughts. They only stare.

Eventually, Sebastian's the one who breaks it with a smile. "Come on." He places a warm hand on Kurt's back and leads him through the kitchen and dining room and back outside, up front. Once there, he hands Kurt half the streamers.

"What are we doing with them?" Kurt asks, brow furrowed.

Sebastian grins widely, an there's a sparkle in his eyes like nothing Kurt's seen on him before – it's childish, almost, but not in the annoying, immature way Kurt would expect. It's mischievous, and fun. "This." Sebastian finally says, and then pulls an arm back and throws it forward.

Kurt watches as the streamers flies through the air, winces a little as it hits a window, and then blinks when it rolls along the window sills, balconies and flower pots, looking ... fun. Messy, and almost careless, but fun nonetheless, and even kind of pretty.

"Try it." Sebastian encourages, not looking at him as he throws another streamer at the opposite side of the house.

Kurt does, and though he doesn't have as good of an arm as Sebastian does, it still lands in a reasonable spot and has the same effect that Sebastian's first throw did.

He finds himself laughing.

For a good ten minutes they decorate the outside of the house with streamers, laughing and pushing each other and trying to overlap the other's work. When they go inside they're both wearing goofy grins, and Asher, who's in the kitchen with Frankie, raises an eyebrow at Sebastian. The two share a secret look that Kurt doesn't quite understand, but it's gone as soon as it's there, and then Ash is smiling and tossing an arm around Sebastian's shoulders.

"Feel like baking a cake?" He asks, grinning charmingly in a way that Kurt knows is his attempt to persuade Sebastian into doing it.

Sebastian rolls his eyes and turns to Kurt. "I don't suppose your stereotyped personality is any accepting to baking."

This time, Kurt rolls his eyes. "You are such a boy." He says, moving past them to the counter.

Out of his peripheral he can see Asher fist-pumping, and Sebastian shoving his shoulder.

Frankie's sitting on the counter, her legs swinging and her chin in her hands, one of which a whisk is dangling from. As Kurt reaches for the egg carton, Asher moves between her legs, grasping her waist.

"_Car je suis l'amoureuse, oui je suis l'amoureuse_ ..." He sings softly as he tugs her off of the counter, a small, secret smile on his lips, and a hot blush immediately rises to Frankie's cheeks. She ducks her face into her hands, making Asher laugh, and then turns to bury her face in his chest, instead. She looks up, cups his face in her hands and mumbles something Kurt can't hear, and then Sebastian tugs at his elbow.

"They're absolutely awful." Sebastian whispers in Kurt's ear, making the boy jump a little as his hand moves to the small of his back.

"I think they're cute." Kurt sticks his tongue out.

Sebastian's nose wrinkles. "Sure. Says the stereotype." He teases, and flicks flour into Kurt's face.

Kurt blinks in surprise, stepping back and gasping a little, and then scoffs and Sebastian starts laughing.

"And we're the awful ones?" Frankie asks, and her nose wrinkles similarly to the way Sebastian's does.

"Shut it, Franks, at least I'm not sucking his face off." Kurt blushes at the words, even though he knows there's nothing behind them.

Frankie raises a knowing eyebrow, but before she can say anything Asher is sneaking up behind her and cracking an egg over her head.

She gasps. "Ash!" And as both Asher and Sebastian laugh and Kurt tries to hold in a few giggles, she scoffs and turns away, seemingly going angrily back to work, looking offended. Just as Asher reaches out, an apologetic look on his face, she smirks, dips a finger into he bowl of frosting and then paints it across his nose, laughing loudly.

Kurt grins despite his surprise; the girl had seemed so quiet at first.

Sebastian catches his confusion, apparently, because he leans over and says, "She's way crazier than she comes off as," and Kurt laughs.

Suddenly there's something thick and wet weighing down Kurt's head, and his mouth drops open in surprise as chocolate cake batter drips down between his eyes.

"Sebastian!" He cries, in time with another one of Frankie's tiny 'oh my God!'s, and he looks over in time to see Asher and Frankie tossing flour and sugar at each other, running and chasing each other around the (ridiculously large) dining room.

"What?" Sebastian asks innocently, but a smirk is playing at his lips, and Kurt narrows his eyes and grabs a handful of cookie dough, smearing it on Sebastian's face and over the front of his shirt.

Sebastian looks up. "Oh, you're gonna get it." He grins evilly and grabs a bag of brown sugar, tearing it open and tipping it over and onto Kurt, making him yelp.

"No, you don't!" Asher laughs across the room, catching Frankie around the waist and overturning the bag of sugar on her, pouring it over her hair and down her shirt as she laughs uncontrollably, struggling against his hold.

Kurt doesn't notice, though, because he's picked up a bottle of chocolate sauce and is now shooting it at Sebastian, who's laughing and holding up a hand to shield himself.

"Truce, truce!" Frankie eventually calls out, her voice still shaking with laughter, and Sebastian and Kurt stop as well as Asher does, each of them laughing breathlessly. Frankie kisses Asher, then, right on the mouth, jumping to wrap her arms around his neck and hook her knees over his hips. "I love you so much." She says after a minute, and Asher returns it without missing a beat.

Sebastian shifts next to Kurt, and Kurt looks up immediately, wide-eyed and half expecting to be kissed (which would not be okay because Blaine and oh God Blaine what would be think of this he wouldn't want me here he wouldn't like this) but Sebastian's face is screwed up into a grimace, his eyes fixed on the couple.

Before he can say anything, though, Asher is leaning back, away from the kiss, and looking up.

"I think we should order a cake." He says breathlessly, and they all agree.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

**A/N**: I think Asher and Frankie are my favorite couple here, which is a bit sad. But it also makes the heartbreak for the others so much easier to write in ...

Also, a thank you to the amazing Amanda, who I turn to for Frankie's lines and actions. Asher and Frankie are our characters from the Tumblr roleplay where we first met, and I don't know what I'd do without her. She's brilliant and wonderful, and I owe so much to her. Thank you, love.


End file.
